Maharashtra Forest Minister Ganesh Naik on Tuesday said he had suggested forest officials to release goats in large numbers in forest areas to prevent leopards from straying into human settlements in search of prey, news agency PTI reported.

The minister was replying to a calling attention motion raised by Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) legislator Jitendra Awhad in the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly over the worrying rise in leopard attacks across the state.